WITNESSING THROUGH HASHTAGS: TRAUMA IN CONTEMPORARY INDIAN SOCIAL MEDIA SPACES

Abstract

This article investigates how hashtags function as contemporary modalities of witnessing trauma in Indian social media spaces. Drawing on classical trauma theory (Caruth; LaCapra), affect theory (Ahmed; Berlant), and digital memory frameworks (Erll; Hoskins; van Dijck), it explores how platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook reconfigure practices of public testimony, memorialization, and collective action. Focusing on key Indian digital movements like #MeTooIndia, #JusticeForNirbhaya, #CAAProtests, and #FarmersProtest, this article analyses how hashtags mobilize affective publics, shape discourses of violence, and document traumatic events in real time. While such practices democratize visibility, they also interface with the algorithmic logic of platform capitalism, generating ethical tensions around exposure, commodification, and representational injustice. By analysing case studies, theoretical debates, and broader socio-political contexts, the article argues that hashtag witnessing constitutes a transformative yet fraught genre of trauma expression, reshaping how individuals and communities in India navigate memory, justice, and affect under digital conditions.